Walls
by MystykFyre
Summary: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Alfred's boss was a charismatic man—and he knew the wall was separating more than just two sides of a city. It was separating two people in love; and they themselves didn't even know it. Nyo!Germancest
1. Bedtime Stories

**Disclaimer:** I have received no notice yet saying that I am the owner of Hetalia—therefore I don't own it!

**Summary:** "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Alfred's boss was a charismatic man—and he knew the wall was separating more than just two sides of a city. It was separating two people in love; and they themselves didn't even know it.

**Warnings:** Nyo!Germancest, Child!Germany, Cold War themes, shoujo ai (girlxgirl fluff)

"_Schwester Preussen?"_

_The albino looked up from her desk at the little blonde-haired girl who had tottered into her office, and was now sleepily rubbing her eyes, trying to suppress a yawn. The older woman smiled warmly at her. "Yes, kleine?"_

"_Will you read me a story tonight, Schwester?"_

_The Prussian hesitated, her scarlet gaze darting down to the various maps and documents that were scattered across her desk. If she left her work now, she'd be in a lot of trouble. And yet…_

"_Please, Schwester? You promised."_

_And yet it was just so hard to resist those sparkling blue eyes peeking out from adorable blonde bangs. The albino woman chuckled. "You're right, I did promise. Alright; I'll come and read you a story."_

_The little blonde smiled, a rare occurrence for her. "Danke, Schwester!" she said sweetly. The Prussian woman found her heart melting when she met the gaze of her little companion. If only she had known then just how powerful the young German's hold on her would become…_

Maria was thrown out of her memory by a loud voice calling her name. She turned her head to see Ivan, his chilly purple gaze unsettlingly close to her face. She took a small, involuntary step back. "Yes, sir?" she greeted him through clenched teeth, as if the small title of respect pained her to say.

Ivan smiled innocently. "I just wanted to say hello," he said simply. "And to give you an update on the situation with your sister."

Maria immediately changed from resentful to concerned. "Deutschland? How is she?"

Ivan smiled. "She is fine, da? The dirty capitalists are taking care of her better than I thought they would."

_She doesn't need to be taken care of, not by them,_ Maria thought bitterly. However, instead of voicing this, she asked, "When can I see her?"

"Alfred would not say. I cannot hope it will be soon."

Maria looked away. "Thank you, Ivan."

A gloved hand rested on her shoulder, more gently than she expected. "I understand your concern for your sister. I will do everything in my power to help you see her again. In the meantime, don't do anything rash, please. Only time can resolve this issue."

Maria looked up at him, expertly hiding the guilt she felt at his words. "You know me. When do I ever do anything rash?"

Ivan chuckled. "I do know you, Maria, and that is why I am worried." She opened her mouth to retort, but he cut her off. "My boss needs me in one of the smaller towns near the border. He says that American idiot was seen by the town just before a supposed terrorist movement. I'm going down to make sure everything's alright. Stay in Berlin, and stay safe," he instructed, before leaving. Maria stood still for a moment, listening to the telltale sounds of his car being started and pulling out of the drive, then taking off down the street. She waited for a few seconds, contemplating the action she was about to take, but then she remembered her sister's words to her all those years ago:

"_You promised."_

She sighed. There was no other choice. Resolutely, she stepped out of the house, closing the front door behind her. Putting her hands in the pocket of her coat, she started to walk. _Ivan told me I had to stay in Berlin… he thinks the American can't come here. How wrong he is…_

She rounded a corner, and immediately stopped, as she found herself face-to-face with the barrel of a gun. She sighed wearily. "Alfred, put it down, it's just me."

The gun lowered slowly, revealing the dirty blonde hair and sky-blue eyes of Alfred F. Jones. "You're alone?"

"Didn't you see Ivan's car just now? He's headed out to the border following the bait you left him. I'm alone."

"Good." Alfred looked at her, caution still clear in his eyes. "You'd better have a good reason for asking me to come all the way out here. It wasn't easy even crossing the border, let alone getting out in the middle of nowhere like this."

Maria decided to ignore his insult. "I want to see mein Schwester, you idiot," she said very calmly. "I have an offer to make."

"Offer?" He looked skeptical. "Let's hear it, then."

"If you let me see my sister, I could feed false information through to Ivan. It would be easy to set a trap for him and possibly end the war—in your favor, of course."

If anything, this made Alfred look even more wary. "And why would you help me? You're a communist, so is Ivan, and as far as I know you guys take care of your own."

"Because Ivan isn't getting me to my sister fast enough!" Maria shouted, before taking a breath to calm herself down. "You may be a capitalist, and I may think that's wrong, but you're the one right now who has the power to give Monika back. You're the one who can help. Ivan's trying and he's failing and I just can't bear that. We have differences, but if you can work past those, then so can I. For Monika's sake."

Alfred nodded slowly. "I'd do the same for Matthew." He looked at her seriously, then put his gun back in his pocket and offered a hand to her. "Alright. A deal's a deal."

Maria nodded and shook his hand. "When can I see Monika?"

"When's the next time you can get away from Ivan?"

Maria thought for a moment. "I should be able to get away around lunchtime tomorrow. He needs to go out to the market and then he has a meeting with his boss."

"Make some excuse for your absence. I'll be waiting here. I can't bring Monika to you, so I'll have to take you to her. You could be gone for a while," Alfred warned.

Maria nodded. "I'll think of something." Alfred turned to leave, but she called, "Wait!" and he turned back around. Her crimson gaze was serious as she looked right into his eyes. "Thank you, Alfred. You don't know how much this means to me." To be completely honest, Maria herself didn't even know exactly how much it meant.

Alfred gave his usual goofy grin. "Hey, no problem. Just doing my job as the hero!"

**AN: So, here I am with the first chapter of my new story, Walls. Microsoft Word apparently hates my grammar. XD Anyway, hope you like it so far! Reviews make me happy. c: This is probably going to be a rather short story… But I'm in the process of writing the next chapter, and it's almost done~ Happy reading!**

**Translations:**

**Schwester Preussen—**Sister Prussia

**Kleine—**little one

**Danke—**Thank you

**Deutschland—**Germany


	2. Split

**Disclaimer:** Though it would be awesome if I did, I still don't own Hetalia.

**Warnings:** Nyo!Germancest, Cold War themes, shoujo ai (girlxgirl fluff)

* * *

><p>"Is something troubling you, Maria? You seem worried."<p>

Maria looked up at the concerned Russian, forcing a fake smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I'm fine, Ivan." She paused for a second, then sighed. "It's just…"

"Da? What is it?"

Maria could see the concern in his violet eyes, and she reassured him with a more real, but sad, smile. "My boss told me about what happened in that little town by the border… He wants me to go down there so I can be with the people. They need me there to support them." She was silent for a minute before adding, "I knew one of the women who died… Her family knew me well…"

Ivan nodded. "Of course, Maria. Would you like me to go with you…?"

"No," the Prussian answered quietly, "but thank you. No, this is something I need to do. I need to show my people that I am strong on my own."

"I understand." Ivan smiled. "Be careful, da? If you get hurt, I'll have to kill someone, and that would just be too time-consuming."

Maria chuckled, a little nervously. "Alright, I will. Thank you, Ivan." He nodded to her, and she left, pulling her coat around her as she did. It was starting to get late, and the streets of Berlin were getting rather chilly. She hurried to the place where she had met Alfred before, glancing over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being followed. She didn't want anyone to know who she was meeting here.

Sure enough, the American man was leaning against the wall there, and he looked up when he heard her approaching. "Good, you came. Come on; we can't stay here."

Maria nodded and followed him as he started walking through the narrow back alleys. For a moment she wondered how he knew the area so well, but she pushed the thought out of her mind. For now, he was her friend; she'd have to hope it stayed that way. She distracted herself by asking, "Where are we going?"

He looked back at her, amused. "That Commie really doesn't let you out that much, does he? We're going to Berlin's beloved airport. If you really knew your way around you'd have figured that out."

Ignoring his insult, Maria pointed out, "They only have a few flights going west. Not nearly enough to get where we're going."

"That's for public flights. If you have your own plane, they don't give a damn where you go," Alfred said smugly.

Maria sighed, again ignoring the implied insult. It wasn't her fault that her war-ridden country was too poor for most people to afford their own planes, nor that the airports were barely functioning as it was. "Then what are we waiting for?"

Alfred grinned. "You."

The plane ride was long and tiring, but Maria wouldn't allow herself to fall asleep; she was too nervous in Alfred's company to do so, and besides, she was anxious to see her sister. She couldn't keep herself from wondering what had happened. Had they hurt her? Was she ill? How was she recovering from the war? No, Maria was far too restless to even think of sleeping. As they neared the West German airport they would be landing at, Maria started tapping her foot, being unable to get up and pace. She was eager to see her sister again.

When they finally got off the plane, she practically ran into the airport, with Alfred following at a slower pace. When she paused to look around for her sister, Alfred caught up to her. "Francis said they'd meet us in the little coffee shop just by this gate." However, Maria hardly heard his words, as he had been interrupted by a call from the same little coffee shop he had just pointed out.

"Osten!"

Maria immediately saw the familiar green coat and hat that her sister always wore either for formal occasions or when it was getting cold. She ran towards her sister with a smile and a call of "Westen~!" As the two met, the Prussian pulled her little sister into a tight hug. "Ich habe dich vermisst, Westen," she said quietly, then pulled out a little bit to look at the younger nation properly.

Monika's blonde hair was pulled neatly back into a tight ponytail, and her once-unruly bangs were pinned safely back. There were no flyaway hairs obscuring her face, and to Maria's relief, there were no cuts or bruises marring her perfectly smooth skin. She looked almost exactly as she had when they had last met, only… older, somehow. Like beyond the cool, collected mask of her expression, there were infinite years of wisdom that could only come through experience.

It was only then that Maria saw how much the war had changed the young country.

"Is something wrong, Preussen?"

"No, of course not." Maria shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She put on a smile, though she was sure anyone could see that it didn't manage to reach her eyes. "I just missed you. It's been a while."

"Ja, it has," Monika mused, looking down.

Maria glanced at her, and was surprised to see the worry on her face. "Is something wrong, Schwester? You look… preoccupied."

"Nein, I am fine," Monika replied. "It's just that… I wonder about your visit. If I know Alfred, there's something else going on here, more than just a courtesy… This won't end well."

Maria put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. It didn't seem like there was anything wrong to me. He's doing us a favor by letting us see each other, even if it is on his terms. We should be happy we have this chance, instead of worrying about what it might mean."

Monika sighed, then smiled. "You're right. I really am glad to see you. We shouldn't let something like that come between us. Besides, I trust you. If you say it's alright, then it's alright."

Maria's heart fluttered like a bird in response to those words, causing the Prussian to look away, biting her lip. She always had these reactions to things her sister said. Even just little things, like a sisterly "I love you", could make her wish that Monika meant more than she said. She stifled a sigh. She knew it could never come to pass. Even if Monika returned her feelings, which she wouldn't, no one would ever accept them. Maria didn't even know how to tell Monika what she felt. What if her sister rejected her? She would much rather maintain the relationship they had than lose it all based on this uncertainty…

"Schwester?"

Maria turned back to look at her, being reminded once again of a time when she was much younger.

"_Schwester?"_

"_Yes, kleine?"_

"_Why are there stars at night?"_

_Maria smiled down at the little blonde laying on the grass beside her, staring up at the night sky. "The stars are there to help us remember things that have gone by, or to tell us things that will never change," the Prussian said, pointing out a particular constellation. "Like, there—Ursa Major, the big bear. And never far away is Ursa Minor, the little bear. The big bear never goes far from the little bear. It's always there to protect it. Just like your Schwester will always be here to protect you, right, kleine?"_

_The young German had laughed. "Ja, Schwester. Danke~"_

"Maria!"*

Maria was snapped out of her flashback by a searing pain that shot through her. She stumbled forward, and was barely aware of the strong arms that caught her. She looked up into the familiar face, the sky blue eyes, and for a moment she thought she saw something there that was more than she had ever hoped to imagine… but then it was gone, replaced by sisterly concern. Maria wasn't sure she had seen it at all. "Schwester, are you alright?" Monika asked, helping her stand up again.

"I-I'm fine," Maria replied shakily. "What was that…?"

Alfred came up to them. "Yeah, sorry about that… we weren't sure if it would hurt you or not. We didn't mean to hurt you, honest."

Monika glared at him. "What the Hölle did you do to her?"

Alfred held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "Hey, calm down, it was nothing serious. Just a small way to get back at the Commie bastard."

"What did you do?" Monika demanded again.

Francis finally joined them, and cut in before Alfred could speak. "Arthur is in Berlin now," he explained. "We're going to split it with Ivan. He can have East Berlin, but we will take control of West Berlin. We all—Monika included—feel that it would be better if we were closer to the source of the problem."

"So now I'm a problem?" Maria growled.

"That's not what I said," Francis responded calmly. "Ivan is the problem. We're doing this for your benefit as much as ours, Maria, so I suggest you calm down."

"What about the people that live there, Arschloch?" Maria demanded. "I know Ivan. He won't just let this happen. Berlin is isolated as it is; it wouldn't be hard for him to just cut off West Berlin. He can shut down the borders so you won't be able to get supplies in. Innocent people could be killed for this! I won't let it happen!" she finished, glaring at both Alfred and Francis.

"You don't really have a choice," Alfred said with a shrug. "Besides, I can fly. If Ivan closes off the borders, I'll just fly supplies into Berlin. No problem."

"And what if he shoots you down?" Maria asked quietly. When Alfred didn't answer, she continued. "There's no way to win with this. Just give it up, Alfred. You're going to lose."

"Heroes never lose!" Alfred insisted heatedly. "I'll find a way to make it work, don't worry!" When Maria looked like she was going to argue further, he continued, cutting her off. "We'll stay here for today, then tomorrow we'll fly into West Berlin, then take you across the border into East Berlin. Got it?"

Maria glared at him, but when she glanced at Monika, her sister's defeated expression made her sigh. "Alright…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, I know this took a lot longer than expected to get up, and I'm really sorry, but there were a lot of problems in real life that I had to deal with, and I couldn't be writing this 24/7… Again, I'm sorry for the delay. I do have the next chapter written, though, and all I have to do is edit it before I can get it up. I hope to have it up tomorrow, to make up for this one's lateness. Thanks for reading!**

*** = In my headcanon, Prussia and Germany call each other "East" and "West" or their country names, because calling someone by their human name is sort of an informality. The other countries use human names for each other because they all know each other well, but I guess Monika and Maria are just too formal to use their human names with each other. So, Monika calling Maria by her human name means she's really worried about her, and would've really gotten Maria's attention. If that makes any sense. XD**

**Translations:**

**Da?—**Yes?

**Osten!—**East!

**Westen~!—**West~!

**Ich habe dich vermisst, Westen—**I missed you, West

**Preussen—**Prussia

**Ja—**Yes

**Schwester—**Sister

**Kleine—**Little one

**Danke~—**Thank you~

**Hölle—**Hell

**Arschloch—**Asshole


End file.
